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Gods of Cymru
Greater Gods *Arawn - god of Annwyn, the otherworld. Dôn created the fey, the race that inhabited Annwyn which was originally a land of paradise. Things began to shift during the Bronze Age. Arawn was challenged by his son Hafgan who he successfully defeated by using the demigod Pwll as his champion. Arawn and Annwyn shifted over time to become the god of the dead and the underworld. *Belenos - the god of the Sun and consort to Dôn. Human myth often confuse Beli Mawr, the oldest of Diangeuaw's progeny with him. During the Roman era, Belenos came to be associated with the gods Hyperion, Mithras and Sol Invictus. Following the Resurgence, worship of Belenos has become more popular than ever with several different cults and churches devoted to him, both individually and part of a Cymric pantheon. *Cythrawl - the Chthonic god of oblivion and destruction. He was not worshipped in the mythic ages. The Scarlet Circle and other modern doomsday cults venerate him. *Dôn - the supernal goddess, dark and chaotic. From her sprang the other gods, first Arawn, Belenos. Llŷr & Mathonwy, then a second generation begot by her with them. The Children of Dôn are her children with Belenos. The Children of Llŷr are his children with her daughter Penarddun (fathered by Mathonwy). The Tylwyth Teg are her children with Nudd, her son by Belenos. The Bendith Y Mamau are her children with Hafgan, who was her son by Arawn. The Daoine Sìth of Scotland and Tuatha de Danaan of Ireland claim her as their mother. *Llŷr - god of the sea, he rejected the rulership of High King Math fab Mathonwy. He took Penarddun for a wife and beget his own children with her: Manawydan, Matholwch, Pwyll and Rhiannon. Dylan, the son of Arianrhod abandoned the House of Dôn shortly after birth to become part of Llŷr's House and was dearly loved by him. *Mathonwy - mysterious god who fathered High King Math. Very little is known about him even by the other gods. He is therefore called the god of secrets and shadow and believed to dwell at Dôn's side. Its speculated that Mathonwy is simply a transexual aspect of Dôn herself. House of Dôn *Arianrhod - the virgin daughter of Dôn, who was tricked by her brother Gwydion into getting pregnant by him after she rejected his advances by stepping over the wand of their uncle King Math, upon which Gwydion had rubbed his semen. She immediately conceived Dylan and Lleu, but refused to acknowledge the latter. She is the goddess of the moon, magic and fertility and becoming heavily worshipped by human witches in modern Cymru. Many of the attributions of non-welsh moon goddesses are being applied to her. *Amathaon - brother of Arianrhod, Gilfaethwy and Gwydion he was the god of farming and harvests who helped Gwydion steal from Arawn. *Ceridwen - powerful daughter of Dôn who was not claimed by any father. She was the mother of Creirwy the Fair & Morvran ab Tegid the warrior and Morvran Avagddu all of whom were fathered by the demigod Tegid Foel, a son of Llŷr and human woman. *Edern ap Nudd - younger brother of the fairy king Gwyn, Edern disguised himself as a human and served as a knight to King Arthur. *Govannon - god of smiths and metal, Govannon was cursed by Gwydion at the end of the Cad Goddeu for killing Dylan; he returned the favor by cursing the creatures of otherworld to be vulnerable to salt and cold iron. He was banished to Gloam. *Gwydion - god of magic, poetry and music, beloved to Dôn. He was a warrior, a trickster and powerful wizard who fathered a number of children with human women, some of whom became legendary saints and kings. He is venerated by the House of Hermes, who consider Hermes/Mercury/Thoth to be synonymous with him. *Gwyn ap Nudd, leader of the Tylwyth Teg and a king of the otherworld. He is considered the king of the Seelie, the Summer Court, the "light" fey but the differences between the Tylwyth Teg and the Bendith Y Mamau are much more subjective and subtle than that. *Lleu Llaw Gyffes - son of Arianrhod who was adopted by Gwydion. He married Blodeuwedd who betrayed him. *Llevelys - another son of Belenos who helped his brother Nudd save Cymru from several curses in the Mythic Age. *Math ap Mathonwy - son and grandson of Dôn, he was appointed as High King of the Isles of the Mighty by her. One of the other gods, in jealousy, laid the tynged upon him that except in times of war, he had to sit with his feed in the lap of a virgin. After his footbearer Goewin in raped by his nephews, he marries her. *Nudd Llaw Eraint - the son of Dôn and Belenos. He fathered Gwyn ap Nudd and Creiddylad, giving his daughter in betrothal to Gwythyr ap Greidawl to secure perpetual peace in otherworld but Gwyn seduced and abducted his sister, causing perpetual war instead. Finally, a truce was declared in which the two kings would fight each Beltaine for possession of her for a year. House of Llyr *Avallach - the son of Llyr by a human woman, he fathered Modron with another human woman. One of sons became the first king of Powys. *Cigva - daughter of Llyr by a human woman, she marries Pyerdi. *Dylan - son of Arianrhod, he was adopted by Llyr and was deeply beloved by both houses. During the Cad Goddeu, he was accidentally killed by his uncle Gofannon. Following the resolution of the conflict, Gwydion carried Dylan's corpse to Arawn and petitioned for his ressurection on behalf of all the gods. Dylan now dwells in Annwn as Arawn's companion and bard. *Greidawl - son of Llyr and father of Gwythyr ap Greidawl, the King of the Bendith Y Mamau *Goronwy- son of Llyr and a human woman, he seduced Blodeuwedd and nearly succeeded in killing Lleu who transformed himself into a wounded eagle and escaped to Gwydion. Goronwy was later killed with his own spear by Lleu. *Gwythyr ap Greidawl - a king of the otherworld and rival of Gwynn ap Nudd. He is considered the leader of the Unseelie, the Winter Court or the "dark" fey though in truth the differences between the Bendith Y Mamau and the Tylwyth Teg are much more subjective and subtle than that. *Manawyddan - older brother of Rhiannon and Pwll, he was beloved and honorable champion of Llyr who led them in several battles again Ireland. When the Cad Goddeu broke out, he was the prisoner of the Tuatha de Daanan in Ireland and unable to fight. He secretly suspected King Math had arranged for his convenient capture and delayed ransom. *Pryderi - the son of Pwll and Rhiannon, he was kidnapped as a baby and his mother framed for his murder. He was later discovered and her name cleared. He served as a Knight of Annwn to King Arawn who was exceptionally fond of him and a rival of Gwydion who stole from him the pigs given to him by Arawn. As one of the battles in the Cad Goddeu, he had to fight in single combat against Gwydion, who defeated and killed him. He was immediately taken to by Bendigeidfran to the cauldron of eternity where he was revived but rendered mute and amnesiac. At the end of the war, Gwydion brought Dylan to Arawn and begged for him to be revived as well. Arawn agreed but only after forcing Gwydion to swear an oath to stop stealing from or bringing harm to the Children of Llyr. *Pwll - son of Llyr who saved his sister Rhiannon from a forced marriage to Gwawl and marries her himself. He gives up his own immortality when Pyerdi is killed by Gwydion during the Cad Goddeu in order to grant it to him. He dies a few decades later old age like a human, asking Manwyddan to marry Rhiannon and defend her, Pryderi and Cigva. Blood Gods *Aeron - one of the daoine sìth who shared blood with Agroná before Age of Saints. She is currently being worshipped in Scotland as the dark queen of war and the Underworld. *Agroná - worshipped by the Britons, she was one of Diangeuaw's first progeny and has a deep association with Arawn. The maker of Modron and Aeron, worship of her and her two "daughers" has restarted following the Resurgence, particularly in Northern Cymru. *Blodeuedd - having overcome the curse cast upon her by Gwydion, Blodeuedd emerged from the otherworld at the start of the Resurgence and laid claim to the Vale of Glamorgan. She now calls herself the Queen of Air & Darkness; very few outside the surviving gods and the new blood gods know her true identity. She allies herself with Gwythyr ap Gridawl vs. Gwynn ap Nudd. *Beli Mawr - the new "king of the vampires" who is being worshipped by humans sometimes in association with Belenos. Most humans venerate him as the Blood God; most vampires respect him but venerate Diangeuaw. *Diangeuaw - "The Ancient"'; the first demigod in Cymru who was born to a human woman impregnated by Belenos and then given three tynged that turned him into an immortal blood-drinker and progenitor of the vampire race of Cymru. *Mabon - the progeny of Modron, he is a beautiful and sensual blood-drinker who has taken on the name of the Celtic god and is worshipped throughout Cymru. He serves as Diangeuaw's herald or courtier and is one of the few besides The Ancient himself to be granted dispensation to boldly travel through the Three Kingdoms at will. *Modron - the godblooded progeny of Agroná who before she was Kissed was married to godblooded King Urien Rheged. Together they had four sons and a daughter: Owain, Morfydd, Rhiwallon, Rhun, Pasgen. After her "death", he re-married King Arthur's younger sister Anna. He and Anna had several children together. Mogron kidnapped the oldest, Ranier and he became her lover-progeny and the vampiric ruler of Cardiff. *Urien Rheged - the son of Belenos and a human woman, he eventually became King Arthur's brother-in-law through marriage to Anna. He accompanied Arthur on a number of adventures including attempting to steal the cauldon of eternity in Annwn. In order to secure Arthur's return, Urien has to agree to remain in the otherworld. Thereafter, Mogron kidnaps Ranier. Owain ap Urien is declared King of Rheged after his father has been missing for a number of years, but he is only able to hold it for five years before he is killed trying to fight the armies of the King of Bernicia. Urien emerges with the fey from otherworld at the Resurgence. Now a powerful wizard as well, Urien takes the name Benedict Aurelius and helps form the House of Hermes. He has two iillegitimate children in the early 1800s: Jeremiah Sinclair and Michael Usiris. As Benedict Aurelius, an immortal who is not a blood-drinker and the enemy of some of them, he acquires the moniker of "Son of the Sun". By 2010, he has his own cult following, especially among the worshippers of Belenos/Hyperion who want to overthrow vampires. His daughter Elaine married Arthur's son Llacheu and had several children which interbred with the Bleidd-dyn Grail Kings in the Summerlands. go to the Cymru Main Page